Did the city move the goalposts for accepting LRT?

It was a city-building moment almost seven years in the making.

On Friday afternoon in the same council chambers where the $2.1-billion contract to build the Confederation Line was approved in December 2012 Mayor Jim Watson revealed that as of Sept. 14, the people of Ottawa would finally get to rideLRT.

The mayor hoisted a golden key, a symbol the city hadtaken control of the LRT from the system's builder, Rideau Transit Group (RTG). Political speeches were made, hands were shaken, and there was understandable good cheer all around.

But once Watson left council chambers and the technical briefing began, the afternoon took a more concerning turn, with a number of last-minute revelations now raising questions about whether the city moved the goalposts before accepting the line.

Handover hasn't happened

First of all, it turns out Watson's golden key is even more symbolic than we thought, because RTG has not handed over the Confederation Line to the city.

There's still paperwork RTG has to hand in, including some final documentation on safety, which the city's own independent safety auditor will have to sign off on.

Are you ready for rail?

5 years ago

Duration 1:12

The city has set Sept. 14 as the launch date for the Confederation Line?

Separately, an independent certifier will have to give the green light that RTG has met so-called revenue service availability contract-speak for the momentLRT is completely ready to be handed over to the city.

That likely won't happen until the end of this week, meaningthe Confederation Line is technically not finished.

However, city officials insist these last-minute tasks won't impede the public launch date, less than three weeks away.

No 12 consecutive days

For months now, OC Transpo boss John Manconi has said thatRTG would need to show the Confederation Line could offer 12 days in a rowof quasi-flawless servicebefore the city took it over.

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At the March 5 finance and economic development committee meeting, where we discovered that RTG would miss its third official deadline, Manconi told councillors that the testing and commissioning of the Confederation Line included "a 12 consecutive-day trial running period [that] needs to be near-perfect."

Later in that same meeting, Manconi said that, once RTG substantially completed the line, "they can go into the 12 days of consecutive running and they have to be near-perfect on every single one of those otherwise the clock resets."

But that never happened. Since the trial run began on July 29, the LRT has not run nearly flawlesslyfor 12 straightdays.

According to Michael Morgan, the city's director of rail construction, there were issues in the early going that required the testing to begin again from the start.

However, Manconi said RTG was allowed two "repeat days" during the trial run. So the line was ultimatelyoperated for 12 days, non-consecutively,over a 14-day period.

What happened to the initial promise? Apparently, there are provisions for the RTG to get a do-over if the day didn't meet certain criteria, but Manconi told reporters Friday "they don't reset the clock" the first time the public has ever heard this.

It's also worth noting the trial run may have been finished as late as Thursday, just oneday before the mayor took dignitaries and the media on a ceremonial ride and subsequently announced thepublic launch date.

It seems that, despite being delayed for 459 days and counting, the city was quite confident the trial runwould be completed just hours before a huge, feel-good announcement.

Down to 13 trains from 15

Also heard for the first time Friday was the surprise news that the city only needs 13 double-car trains during the morning and afternoon rush hours, instead of 15.

For months we've heard the city demand that 15 two-car trains be available for the weekday rush. Reliably running 15 trains on the LRT systemday in, day outhas been an issue for RTG as recently as July.

You know the numbers it's 15 double trains, and fourspare vehicles.- OC Transpo boss John Manconi, March 2019

At that same March 5 finance committee meeting, Manconi described the importance of "fleet availability" that is,the number of trains that need to work.

"It's going to come down to the vehicles, and running those 15 vehicles back and forth," Manconi told council."You know the numbers it's 15 double trains, and fourspare vehicles."

He went on to say that RTG was working its way up to getting "15 double-vehicles running from Tunney's to Blair."

But Friday, we heard the city will only be needing 13 trains to meet the rush-hourdemand, which will see trains arrive and depart every three minutes.

That may well be true, although it's hard to imagine that ridership has fallenthat much since March, when Manconi began talking about 15 double trains. As well, the city has always expected a jump in ridership once the LRT is up and running.

Maybe we only need 13 trains now, but at some point, ridership will increase to the point where we'll likelyneed 15. When that day comes, will the LRT system be able to handle that load?

The answer is far from clear.

Manconi confirmed that RTG ran 15 double-car trains on some trial run days, but couldn't say how many. And indeed, daily update reports viewed by CBC show that only 13 trains were launched from Monday to Thursday last week, instead of the 15 Manconi has spoken about so many times in the past six months.

Take a ride on the Confederation Line

5 years ago

Duration 1:10

A timelapse of Ottawa's new LRT system, which runs between Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations.

The Confederation Line is an exciting, complicatedproject. And there's been much disappointment that it's been delayed numerous times.

Given the political pressure to get it rolling, is it possible the city is rushing the massive project to the finish line?